H. M. Pulham, Esq.

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H.M. Pulham, Esq.
Movie poster of H.M. Pulham, Esq.
Directed by	King Vidor
Produced by	King Vidor
Written by	King Vidor Elizabeth Hill John P. Marquand
Starring	Hedy Lamarr Robert Young Ruth Hussey Charles Coburn Van Heflin
Music by	Bronislau Kaper
Cinematography	Ray June
Editing by	Harold Kress
Distributed by	MGM
Release date(s)	December 18, 1941
Running time	120 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

H.M. Pulham, Esq. is a 1941 film, directed by King Vidor and based on a novel by John P. Marquand. Vidor co-wrote the screenplay with his wife, Elizabeth Hill Vidor. The movie starred Robert Young in the title role, with Hedy Lamarr, Ruth Hussey, Charles Coburn, and Van Heflin. There is also an early (uncredited) appearance by Ava Gardner.

[edit] Plot summary

Harry Moulton Pulham Jr. (Robert Young) is a conservative, middle-aged Boston businessman, set in a precise daily routine. He has a proper wife, Kay (Ruth Hussey), with whom he has settled into a comfortable if passionless relationship. However, it was not always that way.

When Harry is saddled with the task of organizing a twenty-five-year college reunion, it triggers a flashback to a time more than twenty years earlier. After the end of World War I, his Harvard classmate and friend Bill King (Van Heflin) gets him a job in a New York City advertising company, where he falls in love with a vivacious, independent coworker oddly named Marvin Miles (Hedy Lamarr). However, though they love each other, she cannot bring herself to fit into his traditional idea of a wife's role and he cannot imagine living anywhere other than hidebound Boston. So they break off their relationship. Harry falls in love with and marries a woman from his own social set with the same attitudes and assumptions, someone approved of by his father (Charles Coburn) and mother (Fay Holden).

Marvin (also married) arranges to meet Harry again after all those years. There are sparks and Harry is tempted to have an affair, but they both realize that it would be foolish. One thing changes though; Harry becomes profoundly dissatisfied with his dull routine. He begs his wife to go away with him immediately, to rekindle their love. At first, she dismisses the idea as impractical and vaguely improper, but then changes her mind and agrees to go with him, making him very happy.

[edit] External links

• H. M. Pulham, Esq. at the TCM Movie Database
• Review at Classic Film Guide

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